Traumatic brain injury, often referred to as TBI, is most often an acute event similar to other injuries. That is where the similarity between traumatic brain injury and other injuries ends. One moment the person is normal and the next moment life has abruptly changed.

In most other aspects, a traumatic brain injury is very different. Since our brain defines who we are, the consequences of a brain injury can affect all aspects of our lives, including our personality. A brain injury is different from a broken limb or punctured lung. An injury in these areas limit the use of a specific part of your body, but your personality and mental abilities remain unchanged. Most often, these body structures heal and regain their previous function.

Brain injuries do not heal like other injuries. Recovery is a functional recovery, based on mechanisms that remain uncertain. No two brain injuries are alike and the consequence of two similar injuries may be very different. Symptoms may appear right away or may not be present for days or weeks after the injury.

One of the consequences of brain injury is that the person often does not realize that a brain injury has occurred.

Brain Injury Awareness

March is Brain Injury Awareness month and to increase brain injury awareness in Huntsville, the Alabama Head Injury Foundation sponsored a float in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Members from local brain and spinal cord injury support groups braved the cold to raise awareness of brain injury and steps to prevent it.

Be Safe:

Think Ahead and learn the common causes of TBI, so you can take steps to prevent TBI during everyday activities, at work, while playing sports, or during a deployment. Safety measures you should take before getting on a bicycle or motorcycle, driving and playing sports include:

Wear a helmet (and make sure your children wear helmets) when you:

Ride a bike, motorcycle, snowmobile, scooter or all-terrain vehicle

Participate in a contact sport, such as football, ice hockey or boxing

Use in-line skates or a skateboard

Play baseball, softball, football or lacrosse

Ride a horse

Ski or snowboard

Zip line, rock climb, bungee jump, hang glide or participate in any other activity that involves heightsWear a seat belt… of alcohol or drugs, including prescription medications.

Brain Injury Awareness

Wear a seat belt…

Every time you drive or ride in a car, truck or other motor vehicle, wear a seat belt. Small children should always sit in the back seats of cars, away from airbags, and use safety seats or booster seats appropriate for their size and weight (according to state laws).

Using nonslip mats in the bathtub and on shower floors, and installing grab bars next to the toilet, tub and shower

Installing handrails on both sides of stairways

Improving lighting throughout the home

Exercising according to your doctor’s instructions to improve lower-body strength and balance

Brain Injury AwarenessBrain Injury Awareness

Make living areas safer for children by:

Using safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs

Installing window guards at open windows

Making sure that your child’s playground is made of shock-absorbing material, such as hardwood mulch or sand

Supervising children carefully, especially when they’re near water

Brain Injury Awareness

Know the signs:

Concussion, also known as mild Traumatic Brain Injury, often goes undetected or undiagnosed initially because the symptoms can be subtle and varied. Think Ahead to recognize mild TBI by learning common signs and symptoms.

Changes in sleep patterns (sleeping a lot more or having a hard time sleeping);

Light-headedness, dizziness, or loss of balance;

Urge to vomit (nausea);

Increased sensitivity to lights, sounds, or distractions;

Blurred vision or eyes that tire easily;

Loss of sense of smell or taste; and

Ringing in the ears.

Brain Injury Awareness

Get help:

If you think you, or someone else you know, has a TBI, please Think Ahead and seek medical help as quickly as possible to improve chances of a full and complete recovery.

Therapy Achievements

Therapy Achievements helps people with brain injury recover function after brain injury. Our staff has extensive experience working with brain injury after trauma, stroke, or medical conditions that impact brain function. We offer physical, occupational and speech therapy to help people re-gain balance, the ability to walk, and hand function. We provide visual and cognitive re-training, training in activities of daily living and identify adaptive equipment to help people re-gain the ability to participate in functional activities. Programs are tailored to an individual’s needs and we are in-network with most health insurance providers. Have you or someone you know suffered from brain injury? Call us today at 256-509-4398.